Wire rope splice



1949. v. c. J. PETERSON ET AL 2,461,079

WIRE ROPE SPLICE Filed Feb. 1 1948 VINCENT cJjPETERsoN HAROLD M. WILSON INVENTORS d ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 8, 1949 STATES PATENT OFFICE ROPE SPLICE Vincent, (3.. J. Peterson, York, and Harold M. Wih e Bea Cr ek. Fa, assignors to. American Chain & Cable Company, Inc, Bridgeport; Conn, a corporation f New'York;

Application February 10, 1948, Serial No. 71,406

4 claims. 1.

This. invention concerns splices, particularly those splices used in making grommets of wire rope which are intended to. be used as slings.

A grommet intended to. be utilized as a sling can be fabricated in at. least three different ways, according to the prior art. Short splices of a well-known kind can .be used to join the end of arone, thus.- making an endless rope. Another method is to utilize a technique similar to that used in making long or running splices. This is done by winding a single strand around and around a core. so that the eventual product is a rope made. of a. single strand laid around a core so may times as to result in an endlessrope with only av single cut strand. Another method of making a grommet is to. fasten the ends of a length of wire rope. together with clips or other applied fasteners.

All of the above forms of splice have certain disadvantages. Short, splices are diflicult to make and require a. strong and skillful man in the fabrication, and furthermore weaken the rope to a certain extent both at the splice and in the immediate neighboringrope because of the tucking which must, be employed to interlace proper-1y the strands. Grommets made with long, or running splices have a disadvantage that sometimes the ends of the cut strands rise to the surface of the rope and form dangerous projections which catch on the hands of those using the grommet. Those slings which are made by winding 9. single strand around and around an endless central core to eventually form what appears to be endless rope with but a single cut in any of the strands are diff cult to make in large size because of the method of stranding employed which requires considerable lifting of a heavy spool or coil to pass the strand around the endless central core. Furthermore unless the'strand is preformed, it is extremely difficult to assure that each strand is as tight around the core as the next strand and is carrying its proper share of the load.

Clips and other mechanical fasteners securing the ends of rope together are more or less disliked because of their large size and the projections inherent in them. Furthermore they are notorious for their low efiiciency, that is, the tendency they have to permit the rope to pull out of the clip or else cause strains in the rope which cause the rope to break at or in the neighborhood of the clip.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a splice which can be used for making endless wire grommets which can be ap- 2 plied by comparatively unskilled workmen without too much physical exertion.

It is a further object of thepa-esent. invention to provide a splice which is cheap to produce and can be produced with a minimum expenditure of time.

Itis a. further object of this invention to produce a. splice of reasonable length which is at the same time as strong as. the rope which is joined by the splice.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide. a, splice which can be utilized as they part of the rope subjected to the maximum wear; that is, one which can be used as. a grommet splice and which can be applied over the lifting hook when the grommet is to be supported from a hook.

It is a further object of the-present invention to provide a splice. for makingendless grommets. which does not require any expensive. fittings.

Referring now to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a showing of two ropes prepared for. splicing;

Figure 2 is a showing of the ropes of Figure I married;

Figure 3 is a showing of a further stage of this splice;

Figure 4 is a showing ofa completed splice, and

Figure 5 is a section on line 55 of Figure 4.

This splice has. been illustrated in conjunction with a six part wire rope. It is to be understood that the splice canhe used with any number of parts.

Referring now to Figure 1, two rope ends C and D are shown after preliminary preparation. Ferrules M are first slipped on the rope ends and back out of the way. As the ferrules have aconsiderably larger internal diameter than'the rope itself, as will presently appear, this is easily done. After the ferrules M are in place, seizings l5 are applied a sufficient distance back from the cut ends to produce a proper splice. The farther back this seizing is, the less tension there will be tending to pull the strands from under the ferrules. Three lays are sufficient for an efficient splice.

Alternate strands l6, l8 and 20 are then unlaid from the core, leaving alternate strands l1, l9 and 2| in place around the core. These strands have all been marked 0 and d to indicate the rope of which each forms a part. A seizing is then placed around the three strands l1, l9 and 2 i' and the core upon which they lie, at a point midway between the end of the rope and the seizing l5, This seizing has not been shown in the figures for and 2B are secured back out of the way, the ropes are married by butting the core ends, and passing strands lld, 19d, 2Id into the spaces between strands I10, I90 and Zlc.

The seizing (not shown) is then removed, and strands l'l, l8 and 2| are laid around the core of the opposite rope end in the grooves resulting from the removal of strands l6, l8 and 20.

In Figures 3, the strands [1d, [9d and 2 id have been shown as laid up in this manner, while strands llc, Ito and 210 are ready for this operation. After strands I70, I90 and 2 lo are laid in place, the structure superficially resembles a running splice with the normally cut strands still in place.

The strands It, It and 2 are then laid around the inner rope, following the valleys thereof. This is a simple matter, especially if preformed rope is used, as the helical configuration of the strands tends to cause them to follow the valleys of the rope underneath.

The ferrules 5 are then slipped over the regions including the out strand ends, and swaged or otherwise compressed in place.

The splice depends for its eficiency not only upon the presence of the ferrules, which need not be long enough or tight enough to transmit the entire load from strand to strand, but also depends upon the friction developed between the interior and exterior strands. In fact, it is possible, by utilizing a long enough splice, to dispense with ferrules and use seizing to hold the ends of the overlying strands in place. shown splice is far superior because of its neat ap pearance.

In addition to the friction between adjacent strands on the interior rope, which acts as in an ordinary running splice, the action between the overlying strands and the interior rope tends to hold the splice together very materially. This is because any tension separating the ferrules causes the outer strands to grip the inner rope,

with a sort of snubbing action. Consequently, a i

great deal of tension is transmitted between the exterior and interior layers of the splice, lessening the stress on the ferrules.

Although this splice has been described in connection with an even number of strands, it'is to i be understood that it is perfectly feasible to utilize an odd number of strands. For instance, a sevenstrand splice would have four strands of one rope and three of the other in the inner laid rope,

and three strand of the first-mentioned rope in the outer layer together with four strands of the other, and will be just as efi'icient and, when completed, similar in appearance to the six strand splice specifically described.

However, the

It is to be understood that the described method of making 2, splice is illustrative of the invention and that it is possible to deviate from the description somewhat and still remain within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A splice for two rope ends comprising a laid inner portion of the same diameter as the rope ends and composed partly of strands of one rope end and partly of strands of the other rope end, an outer portion composed of strands lying in the valleys of the inner portion, said outer portion composed partly of strands of one rope end and partly of strands of the other rope end, and means forcing the outer strands into the valleys for part of their length.

2. A splice for two rope ends comprising a laid inner portion of the same diameter as the rope ends and composed partly of strands of one rope end and partly of strands of the other rope end, an outer portion composed of strands lying in the valleys of the inner portion, said outer portion composed partly of strands of one rope end and partly of strands of the other rope end, the strands of one rope end terminating in substantially a common region spaced from the like region of termination of the strands of the other rope end, and sleeves surrounding the outer section in said regions, said sleeves compressing the outer strands into the valleys of the inner portion.

3. A splice for two rope ends comprising a laid inner portion of the same diameter as the rope ends, said laid portion comprising strands of both rope ends extending the length of the splice, an outer portion composed of strands lying in the valleys of the inner portion, said outer portion comprising strands of both rope ends extending the length of the splice, and a ring at each end of the splice pressing the strands of the outer portion into the valleys of the inner portion.

4. A splice for two rope ends comprising a laid inner portion of the same diameter as the rope ends; said laid portion comprising strands of both rope ends extending the length of the splice, the strands of one rope end alternating with the strands of the other rope end, an outer portion composed of strands lying in the valleys of the inner portion, said outer portion comprising strands of both rope ends extending the length of the splice, the strands of one rope end alternating with the strands of the other rope end, and a ring at each end of the splice pressing the strands of the outer portion into the valleys of the inner portion.

' VINCENT C. J. PETERSON.

HAROLD M. WILSON.

No references cited 

